The Finding
by XxDrTenmaxX
Summary: Johan goes looking for his twin sister Anna, and finds that she is a girl named Nina Fortner living in Heidelberg, Germany with her adopted parents and that she can't remember anything about her life before age 10.
1. Nina Fornter

He had spent nearly 10 years searching for her. He had looked in every orphanage, foster home, and hospital, hoping to find her, and until recently did he locate her. He found that her name was no longer Anna, known to many as Nina Fortner, an intelligent and talented student, admired by many of her peers, trained in the martial arts of Aikido and living in Heidelberg with her adopted parents. However, despite her talents, she expresses no recollection of her childhood before age 10.

The only thing Johan remembered about Anna was the look in her eyes the day that they had last seen each other nearly 10 years ago. Fear, anguish, and hurt collected in her eyes when she saw him, tears streaming down her face. He had held that memory in the back of his mind, allowing it to emerge only when need.

A few days before they last saw each other, Anna had shot Johan trying to destroy the monster inside of him, but instead sent him to the hospital in critical condition. Which had left one doctor, Dr. Tenma, to choose between what he was supposed to do, performing surgery on the mayor, and what he should do, which was saving Johan's life, the boy who had arrived first. Johan should not have lived, that he knew, yet here he was searching for his long lost twin sister, planning a family reunion for them on their 20th birthday.

Johan had arrived in Heidelberg early in the morning checking into an expensive hotel where he could rest in peace and watch as his plan unfolded. He walked into his suite, setting his bag by the door and walking into the bedroom the door clicking shut behind him. He stood in the doorway of an exquisite room with a queen size bed realizing then how exhausted he truly was. He let himself fall backwards onto the bed feeling the softness of the quilt between his fingers. He laid like that, staring at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity, unable to let himself drift away into sleep. He had to see her, know that she was happy and healthy. He did love his sister, at one time she had been the only thing he had. The only family he had left in the world and now they were in the same city, separated only by streets, buildings, and people. Still unable to sleep he got up off the bed and left his room and the hotel, flagging down a cab outside, and headed for the university where he knew Nina Fortner would show up in a few hours.

Hour after hour passed by. Johan was sitting under a tree outside the lecture hall, hidden by its shadow, waiting for Nina to show up. So far she hadn't and he was becoming impatient. Now the campus was filling with people around his age and he wondered if he would recognize her. Thinking this, he regretted leaving the only photograph he had of her that was up to date back at the hotel in his bag.

More time passed and Johan watched as the people began to disperse, heading to their first class of the day. Pretty soon there were only a few people remaining in the yard, including four girls who looked a few years younger than him, sitting on a stone bench not far away, staring at him and giggling like school girls.

He let out a sigh and leaned his head back resting it on the trunk of the tree closing his eyes. _Where is she? _He thought to himself. He was tired, hungry, and extremely frustrated. He no longer wanted to wait for her, and with another sigh he stood and just as he was about to walk away he saw her. She was running full speed toward the lecture hall, gripping her books, a few papers falling out and floating to the ground, but she kept running. She had long, golden hair, flying behind her as she ran. He knew instantly who she was. She was Nina, his twin sister. He had found her after all these years searching for her, here she was and here he was.

He wanted so badly to chase after her and explain everything to her. Explain to her who she really was, Anna, his twin who had tried to kill him 10 years earlier. But he couldn't bring himself to move, his feet were glued to the ground and he couldn't seem to find his voice. He just watched as her figure grew smaller as she got farther away and finally disappear inside of the building. All he could do now was go back to the hotel and wait.


	2. Weakness

Johan arrived at the hotel about half an hour after he saw Nina. He was still stunned by how beautiful she looked now. Her eyes and round face still held childish characteristics, but she was beautiful. Just as so many girls looked at Johan and fell head over heals, he was sure that many guys saw Nina and were smitten.

He walked back into the bedroom in his master suite, shutting the door and kicking off his shoes. He didn't even bother changing his clothes he just pulled back the quilt and crawled beneath the covers, pulling his knees up to his chest and closing his eyes.

Johan awoke in a dark room, laying on the floor, face pressed against the cold tile. He didn't know where he was or how he'd gotten there, the last thing he remembered was falling asleep in his hotel room.

He got up of the floor and took a few cautious steps forward, arms stretched in front of him, hands searching for something to grab onto, but there was nothing. Johan began sweeping his hands back and forth in front of him frantically searching for a wall or piece of furniture, but there was nothing, his hands hitting only the empty air. The darkness seemed to be never ending and Johan began to panic.

He took another step, starting to hyperventilate the darkness making Johan feel claustrophobic, and suddenly he was falling into more darkness. He tried to scream but no sound came out. He fell for what felt like an eternity before landing hard on a wooden floor, hitting his head and blacking out for the slightest moment.

As he began to open his eyes, a sudden burst of light blinded him and he sat up rubbing his eyes and blinking trying to get them to adjust from being in the darkness for so long. He noticed the shadow of a figure standing above him, and as his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the lights he saw that it was a young girl holding a gun in her small hands, a frightened expression on her face. The gun she was holding in her hands was black with a steel handle and looked too heavy for her, as her hands were shaking she clumsily pointed the gun in his direction.

Johan recognized her face almost instantly, as if he had seen her before in another place and time. She had the brightest blue eyes he'd ever seen, beautifully pale skin, long golden hair, and looked to be at least 10 years old. It was Anna. Once again 10 years old, she was small and vulnerable, shaking with fear, and her index finger was twitching near the trigger.

"You will never hurt anyone again, Johan." She whimpered, her voice breaking when she said his name and tears began to stream down her face.

She lifted the gun higher, arms shaking under its weight. Johan tried to stand up, but his legs went limp and he fell backwards. She took a step toward him and put her finger on the trigger. He lifted his hands in front of his face, as if this would somehow protect him. _Stop her, Johan! _His conscious was screaming at him. But it was too late, a deafening boom shuddered the ground beneath him.

At that moment, Johan jolted up in his bed, which was soaked with sweat. He looked around him, panting, feeling completely out of breath. The quilt from the bed was strewn on the floor and his pillow was soaked with his sweat. When his breathing finally settled and he came back to reality he checked the clock on the table next to his bed, seeing that it was four in the morning.

"Pull yourself together, Johan," he said under his breath. "It was just a dream."

But it was exactly the same dream he'd had for years after Anna had tried to kill him that night back when they were both 10. Johan had gotten therapy trying to rid himself of the dreams and he had thought they were gone for good, but obviously they weren't.

He climbed out bed, stepping over the quilt still lying on the floor, and walked into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him. He turned on the faucet, leaning over the sink, and splashed cold water on his face. He looked up and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror above the sink. He froze, the faucet still running, not recognizing the person that was staring back at him. This person was weak, broken, and alone, that was not who the real Johan was. Johan was fearless, frightening, and could kill someone without any remorse or regret. This was a part of him that he himself rarely saw, buried deep inside never to reveal itself.

He turned away from the mirror, leaning back against sink, which was now almost full of water. As water began to pour over the edges of the white crystal, he spun around turning off the faucet, but careful not to look at his reflection again.

What was happening to him? Was seeing Anna again not the best thing for him? Could this memory that he had stored in the back of his mind hoping to erase destroy him?

He pushed aside his thoughts and walked forward to turn on the shower. The water heated quickly and soon steam was floating around the room, fogging up the mirror. He peeled of his sweaty clothes and climbed into the shower, letting the water wash over him. And in that small moment of weakness, all the memories of every murder he had committed, every life he had destroyed, rushed back into his mind. His chin began to quiver and his legs gave out and he fell onto his knees. As the water rushed over him, huge sobs swept through him fiercely shaking his body as he buried his face in his hands. He didn't try to stop himself like he would have before, just let the tears come and wash away with the water, down the drain leaving no trace of his meltdown, this one moment of weakness that no one would ever see.


	3. Unraveling

It was silent. The kind of silence that made you yearn for some kind of noise to drown it out. The kind of silence that would make any normal person go insane, but Johan was content with the silence. He had spent his years in hotel suites just like this one, listening to nothing but the soft ticking of the clock on the flower covered wall. He had no desire to hear about the events and tragedies happening in the world around him and no need for another human being to talk to.

Johan sat staring blankly at the roses on the wallpaper, tracing every design with his eye and memorizing every small detail and mistake that the artist had made creating nothing but imperfection and failure in his eyes. Once again he unfolded the piece of paper that he was holding, reading over and over again the information he had acquired about Nina only an hour ago. It was shocking how careless people could be with their information and how easy it was to find it.

He pulled out his laptop from its leather carrying case, placing it on the small table in front of him and hitting the power button. As soon as it was loaded he went to his e-mail and began working on a message that would explain everything to Nina, but when he was half way through he decided it wasn't like him to explain everything. He usually sent letters, leaving no return address, and letting on nothing about who he was to his victims, causing them to go insane trying to figure out who this mysterious person was that was sending them letters. He deleted everything and started from scratch, typing only a short sentence:

_I will come for you soon..._

He was satisfied with his work, knowing that Nina would stumble over these word wracking her brain for the meaning behind them. He stood up and placed his laptop back into its case and fastening the latches to keep it in place and setting it back on the table. He grabbed his coat from the closet and walked out the door.

He took the elevator down to the lobby smiling to the girl next to him inside. When he arrived in the lobby he stepped out of the elevator onto the freshly, polished marble floor and made his way toward the revolving door and out into the open air. He flagged down a cab, climbing into the backseat.

"Where to, sir?" asked the cab driver as he pulled away from the curb into traffic.

"Heidelberg Palace." replied Johan looking out the window at the passing people.

He had no idea where he would go from here, but he did have a plan. After his breakdown earlier that day he was determined to get back to his old self and do what he was trained to do. He had been molded into the perfect killer, leaving no trace that it was him. He had been molded into a monster.


	4. The Plan

Vines clawed their way through the cracks in the brown speckled, red stone, crawling toward the sun trying to stay alive. They clung to the walls with their dear little lives, vulnerable in the real world. A small child walking with his mother reached out to touch the vines, wrapping his small fingers around the stem and gently pulling. The vine wasn't strong enough to hold onto the wall and fell, laying limply on the ground, defeated.

The mother pulled her child along quickly as it was getting late. The sun was setting over the horizon falling behind a small hill in the distance scattering shades of orange and red all over the sky. Johan stood watching as the mother hurried on being the last of the people to leave. He smiled to himself. He could now watch as his plan unraveled.

He began walking into the historic building as the sun shed it's last rays of light on the world, turning the sky a shade of purple. He stopped at the bottom of a long winding staircase, looking up into the darkening sky now beginning to be splattered with stars.

From the bottom of the staircase Johan could here the faint sounds of someone whistling near the top. Johan began his ascend of the stairs, taking his time and moving quietly. As he neared the top the whistling became louder, Johan just hoped that this was the person he was looking for.

It was. He was turned facing away from Johan, his navy blue janitor suit making him invisible against the night sky. He swept his broom back and forth keeping perfect time with Johan's heartbeat. He was whistling a familiar tune that sounded oddly like a nursery rhyme from Johan's past, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. But there was no time for pondering over a silly tune, there was work to be done.

Slowly and carefully, Johan began taking small steps toward the man, careful not to catch his attention. He walked up right behind him, the man continuing his work not even realizing Johan was there.

Johan reached out his hands, placing them on the mans shoulders and holding him in place. The man's body stiffened and he tried to crane his neck around so he could look at who was holding onto his shoulders, but was unsuccessful of any movement.

"Who are you? What do you want? We're closed for the day, come back tomorrow," whispered the man unsteadily.

Johan could tell he was trying to remain calm, but the shakiness of his voice gave him away. Johan leaned forward putting his mouth close to his ear.

"My name is unimportant," he whispered directly into his ear, "But I know that your's is Xavier Talhomn. You have a beautiful wife and a daughter that looks just like you. You live in a poor community and your wife works during the day as a waitress and you work here during the night."

The man's body began to stiffen more and his hands clenched into tight fists. His breathing picked up and ,Johan being so close, could feel his heart pounding in his chest. A smile broke across Johan's face, he had Xavier right where he wanted him.

"Wh-who are you?" he stuttered, obviously terrified," H-how do you know so much about me? What do you w-want?"

"There's something I need you to do for me, Xavier. If you don't your family will die." Johan leaned in closer and whispered the last part slowly, letting it sink in.

"Wh-what? I'll do anything, just don't hurt my family!" Xavier was completely frightened now and on the verge of screaming.

"Good, very good."

Johan slipped a note into the pocket of the navy blue jumpsuit, and let go of the mans shoulders. He stepped back and slowly made his way backwards towards the stairs. He remained facing Xaviera just in case he decided to turn on Johan. He didn't.

"Follow these instructions carefully and your family will not be harmed," Johan finally turned away trusting the man wouldn't turn on him.

"Fine."

The mans hand was shaking as he reached into his pocket and extracted the piece of paper unfolding it and holding it up to his face to read. Johan walked down the stairwell into the dark and away from the man who had fallen to his knees and his body was shaking with dry sobs.

The gun felt cold and light in the palm of his hand. He stood outside the house in the dark, watching through the front window of the house, as a man and women silently ate their dinner. He lifted the latch on the white picket fence gate and slowly opened it so that the hinges did not creak, giving him away. He shut it quietly, gently putting the latch back in place and started slowly down the dark path toward the house.

It was moments like this that every person he had ever killed flashed through his mind. The lives he had ruined playing like an old broken film in the back of his mind. He reminded himself that this was the life he had been trained to lead, the life he had chosen. He could have taken a different path in life, turned good by getting a well paying career and started a family, but he hadn't. He had taken the wrong path, it was what he had wanted and it was too late to go back now.

He stopped at the stairs glancing back at the window where the couple were enjoying their dinner, the last meal they would ever eat. He took the steps one at a time and stood right in front of the door. He slowly lifted his hand and rapped three times as hard as he could. He hid the gun inside his jacket as the man opened the door with a smile.

"Why hello there. Can I help you?" asked the old man still smiling.

"Can I come in for a minute and ask you a few questions?" Johan asked innocently returning the smile.

"Sure."

The man stepped out of the way, still holding the door and extending his arm to invite Johan in. This was it, the moment Johan had prepared for. The smile on Johan's face grew even more, but it was not because the man had so generously agreed like he probably thought, but the fact that this would be very easy.


	5. Death In Heidelberg

"Who's at the door, dear?"

An elderly women near the age of sixty poked her head around the corner of the archway separating the dining room from the small foyer. Her features held a hint of what used to be beauty and her eyes shined like perfect blue beads, swimming with different shades of green. Laugh lines created long narrow paths around her mouth each one a different story, a different joke. She was small in stature, but her figure seemed to have plumped with age, and her short blonde hair was flecked with white.

"This nice, young man. He says he has some questions to ask us," her husband replied, leading Johan into the sitting room adjacent the foyer. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?" he said turning slightly to look at Johan as they walked.

The man looked older than his wife, but not by much. His own face held the reminisce of what used to be handsome features. Long wrinkles looked to have been carved into his pale skin and his brow seemed to be forever furrowed. He was tall and walked with a slight limp hinting to a serious injury earlier in life.

"Johan," he said extending his hand toward the man.

"Well nice to meet you, Johan," he replied taking Johan's hand in his and shaking it with a firm, business-man-like grip. "The names Frank."

"The pleasure is all mine," Johan said with a small smirk upon his face.

They walked into the yellow walled sitting room littered with wooden frames of all sizes holding the same familiar blonde haired, blue eyed girl. Johan stopped in his tracks and gazed at one wall that was dedicated solemnly to the awards that the girl had received.

In the center of a shelf between several trophies was the girl, possibly fourteen or fifteen, clutching a tall gold trophy that looked too heavy for her. A broad, proud smile stretched across her face and her bright, blue eyes held nothing but pride and happiness. It was like Johan was looking in a mirror at a happier him. He wondered what it felt like to be happy, how it felt to be proud of something you had accomplished. Johan's happiness had been taken from him long ago, ripped from his small defenseless hands and buried in a box leaving him to spend his life looking for it. He wondered if he would ever find it.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Frank was standing right behind Johan staring lovingly at the picture of the girl. "She's about your age now, real smart too."

"What's her name?" Johan asked trying to actually sound interested in the mans daughter.

"Nina."

"Ah, Nina," the women had entered the room now wiping her wrinkled hands on the white apron tied around her waist. "She's an amazing young girl, going to do great things in this world. I'm Nancy by the way."

"Johan," Johan said extending his hand which the women took softly giving it a small shake.

"Please, sit," she said sweeping her arm toward the black leather sofa sitting in front of a small coffee table, a vase of roses perched neatly in the center.

"Thank you," Johan said walking boldly toward the seat.

He waited for the man and women to join him, the man sitting in a well worn black leather armchair, the women sitting on the edge of the small table. This was it, the point before each kill where he could decide to turn back or push forward. Johan reached back into his jacket pocket, feeling the cool steel of the gun handle slide easily into the palm of his hand. He took a deep breath conjuring up all the memories that awoke the monster inside of him, each one flashing before his eyes quickly, anger welling up in every fiber of his being.

"Where did you find Nina?" Johan asked not looking at either of the couple sitting before him but locking his gaze on the most recent picture of the girl sitting upon the mantle about the fireplace.

"What?" the women asked fear clouding her blue eyes.

"How do you know Nina's not our biological daughter?" the man stiffened in his seat, his hands gripping the edges of the chair.

"Because I'm her brother."

Johan stood quickly, pulling the gun out of his jacket and firing the first shot through the woman's shoulder who cried out in pain and shock. Her husband stood stretching out his hand toward Johan, fear flooding over his face. Johan jumped back as if the man had bit him. He pointed the gun toward the man's head, his lips forming a small plea to keep his life, but before if escaped his lips Johan pulled the trigger.

The man's dead body fell back into the armchair as his wife screamed his name and clutched her bleeding shoulder, blood seeping from between her fingers. Johan couldn't hear her cries or feel her pain. No remorse swept over him as he stared at the shocked expression in the eyes that now looked at him with no signs of life. Blood dripped down the man's face as Johan lifted the gun once more to finish what he had now started. There was no turning back now.


	6. Broken

The detective walked slowly into the yellow walled room where pictures of the familiar blonde haired, blue eyed girl hung on the walls, each frame dusted and cleaned so the picture on the other side of the glass remained undistorted. He noted the fact that one nail was tacked into the wall at random, a yellow square lighter than the walls surrounding it. The killer had clearly taken the picture, but why?

The detective moved slowly through the room, using his fingers on his left hand to type every detail of the scene into his mind. As he moved he stared closely at each of the pictures trying to figure out exactly who this girl was, he knew her from somewhere, he just couldn't remember. He turned on his heel and walked with soft steps toward the two lifeless bodies spread before him.

A camera flashed in the corner of his right eye, distracting him for a slight moment before he went back to examining the scene.

"Detective Lunge," a voice said behind him.

"Chief,"Lunge replied as he turned to face the chief investigator.

"We've got nothing," the chief said through gritted teeth. "No fingerprints, no weapon, no witnesses, not even bullets in the victims bodies. Whoever did this has definitely done it before. He left no trace that he was ever here."

"Interesting," Lunge's fingers were working a mile a minute, typing down everything the chief said and storing it in his mind. "What do you know?"

The chief sighed, looking back toward the scene as another camera flashed. "The couple is Frank and Nancy Fortner. They have a daughter about twenty years of age. She wasn't here at the time of the murder, but we have reason to believe that the killer was looking for her. We believe that the killer was invited into the home since there are no signs of forced entry," he paused looking around the room for anything he could have missed. "There's also this."

The chief led Lunge to the wall on the far side of the room. A message was scrawled along it in blood, a message that Lunge remembered so well. He felt his mouth drop open in shock as he read the message over and over, the memories of previous cases flooding his mind along with one simple face:

_ The monster inside of me is getting bigger. _

Johan held the small, Ziploc bag containing the three bullets cleaned of their victims blood tightly in his right hand as he watched the scene unfolding in front of him. A smile broke across his face and perfect white teeth shown through the darkness of the ally. Police cars lined the street in front of the home blocked by yellow _Caution_ tape, their lights illuminating blues and reds off the dark windows of neighboring houses.

He knew they would find nothing, no fingerprints or bullets, no trace that Johan had ever been there. He almost laughed out loud when he saw detective Lunge walking through the white picket fence, fingers on his left hand typing away. He could almost see the look on the detectives face as he read the message left just for him overlapping the yellow wall, written in the Frank's blood.

Johan placed the small bag into his back pocket as he stared on at the scene. Just when he had decided that he had spent enough time looking on at his own destruction, a small, silver car pulled up to the curb. He hadn't expected this, hadn't wanted this to happen till he had disappeared into darkness.

A tall, beautiful blonde haired girl climbed out of the passenger side, a look of horror sweeping across her face. She was accompanied by a man who was Japanese with shaggy black hair. Johan didn't get a good look of his face but he knew instantly who he was.

The girl walked slowly toward the house, a police officer approaching her having seen the fear on her face, a look of remorse in his own eyes. As the officer talked the girl clutched the white fence trying to hold herself up, but when the support of the fence wasn't enough the shaggy haired man was there to catch her just as her knees gave out.

A long scream pierced the silence as Johan backed away into the darkness of the ally. He caught one last glimpse of Anna clutching the sleeves of Kenzo Tenma's shirt as he held her. Tears streamed from her vibrant blue eyes and golden strands of hair fell in her face. The perfect image of a broken heart.


End file.
